Aug
30
Written by:
Sandra Dooley
8/30/2010 12:19 PM
A couple of weeks ago I spoke with a group of catechists in the parish. There were about 30 people—Faith Formation and RCIA catechists. Everyone present was English-speaking, although some of them work with the Spanish community and are native Spanish speakers.
I began by asking what they have heard about the upcoming revised translation. There was a wide range of responses, with some saying they weren’t aware of any changes in the Mass, and a few who thought that there will be significant changes in what we say at Mass. When I asked how people felt about the upcoming changes, there were no strong opinions or feelings expressed, although as the evening went on some passion about what we say when we pray became evident.
There were lots of thoughtful, sincere questions. One person asked early on why the process has taken so long. I was able to answer her question with the brief history of the liturgy that I had prepared in the power point presentation.
Another significant question was “Will we need new hymnals?” That was easy to answer. Yes, we plan on getting new hymnals, not only because of the new translation, but because the hymnals we now have in the pews are about 12-13 years old and are greatly in need of being replaced. The parish has actually been putting off purchasing new hymnals in anticipation of the revised texts.
I gave the group a brief look at the words that will change in the people’s parts, and the word that caught the most attention (and caused some giggling) was “consubstantial.” So we had a brief and interesting discussion of that word and why it is being used. My response satisfied most but not all, so I know that I need to do a little more research on that.
The other significant observation of the evening was made by the bilingual folks in the group, who noted that “finally” the English version of the texts will more closely resemble the Spanish that they have been used to for years. One young woman expressed relief at that.
All was not rosy, but one man summed up the feeling of many people in the group when he said that he is fine with making changes as long as someone explains the reasons for them and that those reasons make sense.